


Aren't you GLaDOS?

by Mioka



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Games, M/M, Manipulation, Portal AU, Testsubject!Kylo, science guy!Hux, the portal AU noone asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 03:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8828485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mioka/pseuds/Mioka
Summary: Hux is a scientist, he is proud of his work and plans his major breakthrough.Testsubject 705 has other plans.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silivrenelya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silivrenelya/gifts).



> DISCLAIMER: I only played the first Portal, so this is purely my imagination. 
> 
> I'd love to thank [DC](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken), for her beta, which was helpful and eye-opening.
> 
> This is for [silivrenelya](https://silivrenelya.tumblr.com/)

Hux watched in fascination as Test Subject 705 completed yet another test.

This far, the man had made it further than his predecessors, killing off the Companion Cube while the computer was still explaining, seemingly unfazed by the laid-out traps of fake survivors. He simply went, looked around and left again. 

Compared to any other, he seemed promising, but Hux knew, that it could be a bad omen.  
He knew that Subject 705 was aggressive, he’d seen it in the cameras he had flung into the toxic water, the joy in the man’s eyes as he used one drone to shoot the other. 

Hux was almost sad to see him go, but he knew it wouldn’t be too long until they would catch him again, sedate him and put him back with the others who were still alive. 

He watched as his subject stood on the platform moving towards the incinerator. This was make or break, Hux was sure that 705 would escape - he was unmanageable, smart and aggressively refusing to play along with any of the social experiments woven into the logical tests. 

Phasma had bet against him, saying that she was sure 705 would end up just dying. She knew 705,had diagnosed him prior to waking him. Hux believed Phasma knew the man better than he knew himself.

He watched as 705 created the portal necessary to escape the incinerator and cued up the computer messages GLaDOS would be saying in the next ten minutes of 705 running inside the facility.

Hux saw the subject’s face split into a grin as GLaDOS tried to get him to behave, making a note on that would’ve been useless, a sense of humor has already been established, as dry as Glados, but appreciating it nonetheless. 

Phasma came into the screening room, told him her subject made it through and back safely. No dogs necessary to find 281 in the woods then, a quitter. 

“So, he made the break, huh?” Phasma sighed as she slided a few dollars over to Hux. He took them, nodding in a ‘I told you’ kind of way that Phasma had seen way too often already.

“He seems promising, though I might be a little worried.” 

“How so? Didn’t you say his intelligence and aggressiveness could be helpful?”

“Yes, but I also said it could cause problems really fast. He could make the connections, or his brain could come up with a totally unpredicted idea.”

“Hux, it is our job to think about every idea he might have, especially the unpredicted ones.”  
He hummed in agreement, and turned his back to her as she left. 705 was now standing atop a tube that would lead him back to one of the test rooms.

______________

He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. 705 had followed the tube, like he should, he had entered the broken elevator, like he should but once he was behind that, in the maintenance room with the pumps and concrete levels, it had all gone sideways.

His subject was fumbling with a vent that wasn’t supposed to be noticed, with a wrench he wasn’t supposed to have, and GLaDOS was out of commands to handle this situation.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”, Hux had no choice but to step in.

He saw the subject flinch and look around until he found the little camera in the corner. He stopped messing with the vent and walked up to it, looking right at it.

“Can you hear me?”, he asked, seemingly amused. 

“Of course I can hear you. Now, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The subject started laughing rather loudly then and Hux had to set the speaker lower.

“You’re actually a guy! Oh man, and I thought I was stuck with some heartless bitch.”

Hux paused over the speaker-button. How did he figure out that he was male? The program would distort his voice to sound like GLaDOS. He asked as much.

“Yeah, you sound like - what? GLaDOS?- You sound like her, but not really. In a way you sound like a male version of her, even slightly different accent, I would say. The cursing gave it away, though.”

705 was now grinning up at the camera, his posture more relaxed than it had been since the test started this morning.

“So, not-GLaDOS, what’s your name and where can I find you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Aw, come one, sugar buns, it’s clear you guys want me to go in that direction, but I’m not going to. So I will get through this vent, see if there’s anything else. You can help or you can go offline.”

“You’re being far too confident about your skills. What makes you say we want you to go in that direction? You escaped, we’re trying to catch you.”

“Oh, right, the incinerator and the way too obvious way out. Are we still playing this game?”  
Hux was furious. How could his subject be so condescending?

“Listen here, you-”

“Okay, bye!” the subject interrupted him and stabbed the camera with his tool.

That respectless little brat! Hux watched as the screen buzzed grey static and went offline, a black rectangle now in the midst of his wall of screens. He didn’t have cameras in the vents, he didn’t have access to the cameras inside the department. He was practically blind now. 

He had to do something, however. Couldn’t leave it like that. The subject was bound to come out somewhere.

Hux called the blueprints onto the big screen, retracing the places 705 would have come through, trying to calculate his speed and where he would first intersect with the real department and thus, possibly, actually drop out of the vents.

He turned off his screens and ran through the door once he found a place that fit his criteria.

It would take 705 about 10 minutes to reach the first exit after entering, presuming he would go through there, Hux had exactly 3 minutes left to be there before 705 and hide, if he would indeed drop out of the vent there instead of going on. Hux didn’t want to think of other possibilities right now.

He rounded the corner, thinking about how dangerous it actually is to have a direct vent between the fake and real department, and came to a halt in front of an office door. 

It was Thannisons lab, he knew that the man wasn’t in today, so he leaned his ear towards the door, searching for any sound.  
As it was silent he crept inside, soundlessly closing the door and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim lights.  
It didn’t take him long, since all of a sudden there was movement in the corner, and the familiar lights of the portal gun were pointed at him.

“Hello there”, 705 said, his voice way smoother than Hux expected, without the distortion due to static in the recording devices.

Hux froze while 705 stepped closer, his gaze guarded, dangerous. 

“I’m guessing you’re my scientist?”

“Yes.”

“I’m also guessing, since you’ve observed me since this whole thing started, you know exactly where the portal would end up were I to open it, let's say, right underneath your feet.”

“Yes.”

“So, in conclusion, we have an agreement? You don’t do anything that might make me open up that portal right underneath your feet and I won’t open up that portal right underneath your feet.”

Hux swallowed. He couldn’t let this happen but he knew 705 to have fast reflexes. Faster than he had, for sure. He needed to distract him somehow.

“Say, you’re not in the slightest curious as to why this is all happening to you?”

“You know, judging from GLaDOS and the way she talks to me, I can see where she got her manipulative traits, though it is nice to see that you’re just as transparent as she is.”

“705, you’re being unreasonable.”

“Call me Kylo.”

“Kylo? Why’s that?” he couldn’t help himself. This was the first time a subject referred to themselves with a name other than their designation number. Well, or at all. But then again, this was the first time a subject found their scientist.

“I found the name etched into my skin.” Kylo replied, lifting his shirt just enough to make a small scar visible, just above his hipbone, it read ‘Kylo’ clear as day.

“So, just because you find some random name on your skin, you presume it’s yours?”

“Pretty much. Or how often do you people leave messages on your subjects? I mean - walls? Sure, the handprints were a nice touch, but generic. It was easy to see the fake.”

“So you noticed, huh?”

“That there were no survivors? No way out? This was all too obvious, unfortunately.”

“You’re really not in the slightest bit curious as to why this is all happening to you?” Hux tried again.

“Not so much, really, though I do have a few questions for you.”

There was a pause, Hux looked up at 705 - Kylo, expectantly.

“Are you waiting for my permission?”

“Maybe.”

“Very well, then. Shoot.”

“How many times have I done this run now?”

Hux was speechless for a second. So he figured it out. That was very unusual. Logically speaking, it could’ve been possible that they’d caught Kylo, Kylo etching the scar into his skin, and this would be his first and possibly last run. 

“Five times this year,” Hux answered, unable to look Kylo in the eyes.

“Given that my subject number is 705, I’m guessing this is my seventh year?”

“Wow, you’re good!” Hux exhaled, he couldn’t keep the shaking out of his hands. This was extraordinary! A subject that not only managed to break free from the preset facility, but figured it all out in the span of a day!  
He heard the man chuckle, deep and dangerous.

“Why, thank you. I’m a survivor, after all. I’m still alive.”

Hux looked up at Kylo, unsure of how to feel. He was fascinated, beyond fascinated, he didn’t think this to be possible, and to have one of his subjects be the lucky one. It wasn’t exactly the breakthrough they had hoped for, because clearly, Kylo remembered. That wasn’t the plan. But he was smart, he kept his wits about him, he entered a blank space and filled it, and all Hux could do was stare in awe at this man standing across from him, pointing the portal gun at him; he couldn’t help but feel glad to be in the same room as this man. He was the answer, maybe, possibly, for Hux’s search that had been going on for nearly a decade now.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked.

Hux had to stop himself before answering in the wrong context, now.

“Why is who doing what?” he asked back, carefully.

“Why is this organisation having people run around mazes, solving puzzles, erasing their memory and have them do it over and over? And when would it stop?”

“The idea is to lose memories, but not skillsets. I’d guess the solution we gave you was a little blurry on what are memories and what are skill sets, judging from you remembering.”

“So, I’m the facilities’ subject, or yours?”

“Mine.” Hux paused, noticing the possessiveness that found its way into his voice. He looked up at Kylo and found the man - blushing?

“Why, Kylo, do you like possessive men?” Hux couldn’t stop himself asking, a little flirty tilt in his voice.

Kylo looked away, coughing slightly.

“Wouldn’t that be weird, I mean, I’m your test subject - a lab rat, am I not?” Kylo looked back at him and had that glint in his eyes again, like he was ready to open the second portal and have Hux drop one thousand feet onto concrete, like he promised he would. 

Right, this was a hostage situation, Hux, get it together, don’t flirt with your subjects, damn it.

“You are my test subject, yes. You belong to the company, though. The one I work for.”

“Aperture Science?” Kylo asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Aperture Science doesn’t exist. It’s part of the experiment. This is First Order Solutions.” Hux straightened a little at that, still never able to shake off the pride he felt at the name. The one big company in the country to start this idea, and actually see it through.

“And what exactly is the idea of having people whose memories you can erase while keeping the skill set?”

“You do realize I would have to kill you if I tell you?” 

“You do realize I would kill you all the same?” Kylo stepped closer.

“You might as well, or they do when they realize I’ve been talking.”

“How would they? The cameras are gone, the door is locked, I don’t suppose they record you.”

“They don’t but they would be careful. Either they make sure to wipe you completely once they get to you or just kill you. Though you are promising.”

“Thank you. Okay, next question then. If I have been here for 7 years, where was I before and why was I chosen for this?”

“You volunteered. I have no idea about your background.”

“And you expect me to believe this?”

“All you said was that you didn’t want to remember anymore. I have your files in my office, I could show you.”

“Show me, then.” Kylo whispered. When did he get so close? Hux swallowed.

“We’d have to get to my office. You’d call attention to yourself, walking around like this.”

“Right, hit me up. I’m sure you have a spare lab coat here somewhere. And shoes? However I get those things off.” Kylo stood straight at that, looking down at his long-fall boots.

With a sigh, Hux stepped forward and got on one knee infront of Kylo, grabbing his calf, and sneering up at the man. Kylo had the decency to look away as he let Hux remove the boots. 

Once done, Hux stood and straightened, reassessing Kylo, now that he was rather literally face to face with him.

“I never knew you were actually taller than me”.

“I feel smaller now, actually, but good to know I’m still taller than you.” Kylo said, grinning like a kid who got away with a nasty prank.

Hux scoffed at that as he turned and rummaged through the closet, mumbling to himself about self satisfied pricks who don’t even remember walking on their own two feet.

“And whose fault is that?” Kylo asks loudly, grim once again. Hux remembered that he would do that in the test runs, too. Every time, actually, he would laugh at GLaDOS’ comments in one second and curse her the next. He was unstable, swift in his emotions, but open, easy to read.

“As I said, you volunteered, most of our subjects volunteer.”

“And those who don’t? Where do they come from?”

“Death row, mostly.” Hux said coldly as he turned to hand Kylo a lab coat and a shirt.

He saw the man swallow down whatever comment he had and pushed the bundle into his chest.

“So I’m either a murderer or a fucked up kid with regrets?” Kylo said as he started to undress.

“I don’t think one excludes the other, but sure, I get what you mean.” 

“And you have no real problem with watching a potential murderer undress in your workspace?” Kylo looked up at Hux, who failed to turn around as Kylo pulled his lab-shirt off.

Hux startled, realizing his mistake and turned around then. “I told you, you’re a volunteer, not death row. So you’re not a murderer.”

“But you don’t know what I might’ve wanted to forget.” Kylo pointed out. Hux didn’t have much to say to that.

“Okay, you can turn around now. I will carry the gun below the coat, just so you know. No funny business or you fall, alright?”

Hux snarled at the man as he led him outside the office. He didn’t like this one bit.

It was blessedly empty in the hallway and Hux was glad that he had his office relatively close to the lab, not like Thanisson, who had to walk several levels to get from one place to the other.

“This is a pretty big place.” Kylo mumbled behind him.

“This is a fake facility inside a fake faccility inside organizational headquarters, of course it’s a pretty big place.”

“Yeah, I get that part, and I realized that pretty fast too, though I didn’t think we were so high up, actually.”

Hux turned to look behind him, Kylo was stealing glances outside the windows they passed.

“What made you think that? You drove with the elevator after each level, after all.”

“Yeah, but it didn’t feel like it was going up all the time, I mostly thought I was underground and going left or right rather than up or down. Though some levels I actually did move up and down, but I assumed because there were a lot of vertical portals needed in those levels. You know, the ones where I’d fling myself over gaps and shit.”

Kylo was rambling, Hux could tell. He was getting distracted by the outside world. Maybe he could use that to get out of this situation.

“Come to think of it, what is your name?”

“You don’t really need to know my name.” Hux mumbled. The less Kylo knew, the better.

“So should I just call you science-guy? Ginger? Pumpkin? Kitty?”

Hux turned around, sneer firmly in place. Kylo was grinning at him.

“It’s Hux.”

“Hux, huh? I like it. Though kitty is really fitting right now. I feel like you would hiss at me any second.”

“I might.” And with that, Hux turned around and through the door leading to the staircase.

Kylo was following him silently after that and in due time they managed to get into Hux’s office without anyone seeing them.

Upon entering his office, Kylos demeanour changed. He went in as if he knew the place and looked around in wonderment.  
“No family fotos, no personal items except that bag, if I wouldn’t know any better I’d say you led me into a trap.” Kylo said as he dropped himself into one of the sofas lining Hux’s office.

“If you didn’t know any better? You don’t actually know me.” Hux said, moving to his desk.

“From the short time I’ve been talking to you I’ve had the impression you’re rather spartan in general, efficient, judging by how you managed to find me, as I’m guessing you didn’t have any other way to find me rather than to guess. The fact that you came alone instead of with security or whatnot, I’d guess you’re more of a loner, you like to take care of stuff by yourself, rather than involve others.” 

Kylo was looking smug, like he just figured out a very complicated puzzle.

“Aren’t you a clever one” Hux said, in a perfect imitation of GLaDOS.

Kylo grinned. “Thank you. I do spend my time solving some weird puzzles, so I guess it comes with the job description.”

Heaving a deep sigh, Hux sat at his desk and turned on his computer. While it started, he watched Kylo out of the corner of his eye. He leaned back into the sofa, the gun resting on his lap, and he was looking out the window into the clear blue sky outside.

“You might want to get over here, I can show you the files on the screen.” Hux said as he went through the archive, trying to find Kylos serial number.

Once he found it, Kylo had dragged a chair next to him and sat down, the gun left on the sofa.

He was too close. Way too close. Hux could feel the warmth his body radiated. This was why they were watching their subjects through screens. Because this was too nice to go to waste on another test run. Hux wanted to take him home and keep him safe there, live in his warmth for a long time.

Kylo cleared his throat, positively pulling Hux out of his domestic daydreams, and looked at him expectantly.

Right, the clip. Hux clicked the video file and leaned back.

In the video, you could see an interview room First Order used for all its subjects and scientist. They screened all their Human Resources interactions. 

Kylo was sitting on one side of the table, wearing a big black sweater and shabby looking jeans. The style seemed to fit him, but it was so different from what Hux had seen the man in.  
He looked - haunted, tired. The interviewer, who wasn’t shown by the camera asked Kylo a question that wasn’t picked up by the microphone in front of him. 

“You sure you need my name? I don’t want to give it.  
So what? You just need me to say that you’re free to do whatever with me, right?  
You promised you’d erase my memories, so there is that, that’s all you need.  
What? Okay, okay, legal issues, spare me.”

Hux was glad to see that the time here did not really diminish Kylos character. He glanced over at the man, who had leaned closer to the screen the second the video started.

“Okay, my name is Ben Organa-Solo, and I hereby declare that First Order Solutions is free to use me as a test subject. I am aware that that includes but is not limited to erasure of memory. I make this message out of my own free will and join the ranks as a test subject simply in order to escape my own past. Happy?”

Ben was looking at the interviewer, daring them to say anything that would upset him more. He already looked upset, ready to rage any second.

Kylo leaned back now, and the video stopped. Hux closed the file and returned to the desktop.

“Do you have access to more?”

“Video footage, you mean?”

Kylo nodded, he looked hopeful, but sad and Hux felt an uncomfortable clench in his stomach.

“I have footage of some of your runs, though not all of them. Mostly highlights by now.” 

Why was he telling Kylo this? He was not authorized to see them, and it would have terrible consequences.

“Is there anything about Ben? Can’t find anything more?”

“Well, I could search the internet….” Hux was saying, as he already typed the name into the search engine of his web browser. A little voice inside him told him to shut it all down, to tell Kylo that this was it, and it was all he would know about who he used to be.

Hux didn’t listen. He was invested now, he needed to know what happened to Ben to become Kylo.

Newspaper websites took up the first page, ranging from “missing teenager” to “Suspect in Mass Murder - Former Classmate?” to a full blown documentary on “Ben Organa-Solo - Prodigy gone Rogue.”

They both stared at the screen in shock. Surely, this was wrong. This was definitely a mistake, Kylo shouldn’t see this. Hux hurried to close the window but Kylo’s hand shot up to stop him.

“Wait. I want to see this,” he said, and clicked on the first article.

He shouldn’t let him see it, but Hux let it happen, leaning back and reading over Kylo’s shoulder. 

The article was talking about Ben, who apparently, in what believed to be a schizophrenic episode, killed 12 of his classmates and went missing. It was believed that Ben had been just another victim, but police wouldn't rule him out as a suspect.

While Kylo clicked back and on another article, Hux had to make a decision.

He moved his chair a tiny bit and as Kylo began to turn his head away from the screen, Hux leapt up and grabbed the portal gun left forgotten on the sofa, turning around to see that Kylo was already standing, but noticed Hux movement too late.

Hux pointed the gun at Kylo, trying to will himself to pull the trigger. He would fall 1.000 feet towards concrete and without his long-fall boots on, he would die upon impact.

“Hux …” Kylo stepped forward carefully. “Put the gun down, Hux. You don’t want to do this.”

“You’re right, I don’t want to do this. Damn it, Kylo, I’ve spent seven years on you. You were good! Promising! You were my breakthrough!” Hux felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He didn’t want to do this, he absolutely didn’t. It wasn’t so much on the wasted time and efforts anymore, it was the connection he had build with him, too.

“Then don’t, Hux! We can find another way out, help me make a life outside of this, help me be a person again, please Hux.”

Kylo looked distressed now, and that was new. Hux had seen him over the years, many emotions playing across his face, but never this. Fear. Kylo was afraid, because he knew he could actually die.

“You knew the faculty wouldn’t kill you.” Hux whispered. It was totally out of context but it explained why Kylo was never afraid, never regarded the drones like a threat, but as a plaything. “You knew they were just electro shocks.”

“And the water was just sedative. Yes, I guess I’ve figured that out quite a while ago, it was more of an instinct this time, to be honest.”

“So this is the first time you feel fear.”

“Yes.” Kylo whispered, and fuck, it made Hux’s heart clench. He didn’t want Kylo to be afraid, didn’t want to be in this situation.

“If I were to let you go, where would you go? How would I know to trust you? I can’t Kylo, I can’t let you go, you know too much, and you don’t know how to survive out there!” Hux was getting frustrated, the stress was getting to him, his heart was hammering, his throat felt like it closed up on him, he was amazed that he still got the words out. He felt a whimper climbing up his chest and suppressed it.

“You said it yourself, I’m clever, I’ll find a way. I know you might be afraid, now, too. I know you don’t like this outcome, I don’t like it either. I felt like you were a threat, Hux, understand this, please. I don’t want to leave your side, I know you took care of me, but I need to get out there again, I want to live, I want to remember.”

Hux whimpered, then, lowered the gun.

“I don’t want to lose you. Not only as a test subject, Kylo. I know you. I’ve spent years researching your behaviour, I know you better than anyone. But you are a threat now, as much as you might be a cornered animal, I can’t trust you right now, not with the other portal hovering -”

Hux paused. Looked at Kylo and Kylo seemed to understand.

Hux aimed the gun at the wall and shot. The orange circle appeared, leaving a window to the fake faculty Kylo had escaped from, facing one of the graffitis Hux had sprayed on the wall. A ‘This way’ and an arrow pointing up.

He dropped the gun and Kylo seemed to relax instantly. Hux dropped to the floor, running his hand through his hair.

“I don’t want to go back to the faculty, Hux.” Kylo mumbled from across the office. He looked small, edged into the corner next to Hux’s bookshelf, looking at Hux with these eyes that seemed too full of emotion.

“You don’t have much of a choice, I’m afraid.” Hux said. He was tired, so tired. He had started the test early in the morning and by now the sun had set again. 

“There must be something, though. I came in as a volunteer, there must be a veto of sorts.”

“You still know too much.”

“Then wipe me. Start a new experiment. I’d remember my skills, could get a life off that, you could tell me what I needed to know, and I would leave none the wiser.”

Hux considered it. It was logical, clear, an obvious answer to his problem. He didn’t expect anything less from his best. Kylo scoffed as Hux told him this, but his face went back to serious, pleading.

“Please, Hux. Let me live.”

Hux couldn’t hold his gaze. 

“What if I don’t want to? What if I don’t want to let you leave? I could agree on all this, could wipe you and put you right back into your wake up chamber for the next run.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe I have already? Maybe this isn’t the first time you’re here.”

“Is it?”

Hux sighed, he was being far too honest. What was different now from all the other times?

“Your number, the first one stands for the years you’ve spent here. The second stands for the amount of completed standard tests, where you run through the fake faculty and fight Glados, and security collects you on your way out and puts you back. The third is the amount of times you have completed the advanced tests, where you figured out how to get out, besides the fact that it’s very much real, but the advanced tests became a thing after you broke out the first time. That’s also when I got trained into dealing with this.”

“So we’ve had this situation 5 times already.” Kylo’s voice was so cold, all of a sudden, Hux couldn’t make himself go on. But he knew he had to.

“Your subject number isn’t 705 per se…” 

“What’s my subject number, Hux?”

He couldn’t look, couldn’t make himself say it. Why did he say it? Why did he have to be so honest now?

“It’s 7 point 20 point 15.”

“Fifteen? We’ve had this situation fifteen times!” Kylo stood abruptly, dropping in front of Hux, who leaned away from the furious face.

“So fifteen times we’ve had this hostage situation, and fifteen times you’ve, what? Made me believe you’d wipe me and then free me? Only to drop me back into my cell?”

Kylo’s face was too close, too close and Hux felt his chest clench with regret.

“I’m sorry, Kylo.” he whispered.

“Fuck you, Hux. How am I supposed to trust you now? What kind of mind game is this shit?”

Kylo stood up and paced the small office space, opening drawers and slamming them shut in quick succession.

“What are you doing?” Hux stood as well and moved towards the man.

“I’m looking for something, anything. Don’t you dare come near me.”

“Kylo, listen to me -”

“No, I will not listen to you. How will I know you’re not lying to me.”

“Because up till now I have been honest with you. I haven’t wiped your memory yet and I’ve told you about the trap that came with that agreement.”

“Up till now, yet” Kylo quoted back. “That still doesn’t sound convincing. It sounds like you will be lying to me, and that you will still wipe my memory. Is there a fourth number I should know about? How often did we come to this point?”

“Never, Kylo. I’ve never before been this honest to you.”

Kylo eyed him suspiciously, but he stopped pulling open drawers.

“Why now?” he asked, as he turned towards Hux.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the repetitiveness of doing this shit for seven years straight, maybe it’s because you’re smarter this time, I don’t know why. But I don’t want to see you back in the maze again.”

“So what, you’re letting me go?”

“I told you I can’t do that.”

Kylo turned away again, pulling open another drawer.

“Well, this should be easy then.” he said as he hit Hux with the hardcover that lay on his desk, and everything went dark around Hux.  
___________________________________________________________________________

When Hux woke up, Phasma was bent over him, worry written all over her face.

“Hux? Can you hear me? Answer me, what happened? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you, I - I don’t know what happened.” He looked around, disoriented and unwilling to share this with Phasma. He didn’t know where Kylo had gone, he didn’t know how much the company knew, nor what had happened.

“Where’s 705?” Phasma asked, grabbing the portal gun from underneath Hux’s desk.

“I don’t know. What day is it?” Hux asked as he looked outside the window to see the sun shining, it was almost noon.

“I left you yesterday after 705 made the jump out of the incinerator. What happened then?”

Hux thought about what to say. He was Phasma’s superior and trusted her not to betray him for her own agenda but he couldn’t drag her down with him.

“He took the advanced course, agreed to have his memory wiped under pretense of freedom.”

“Then he should be back in the cell.” Phasma said.

Hux turned to her, and saw that she understood. She knew, as well as he did, that he probably wasn’t there. She knew it will take months until the rotation would be back to him and the company would notice him missing. Hux knew he could crack this, he could play it right and get away with this, if he acted fast.

“I’ve spent the night here, the process took too long and I fell asleep.” 

“Yes, sir!” Phasma said in a mock salute and left.

The following hours were spent with Hux finding every piece of evidence that contradicted his statement and the rest of the day he prepared for his resignation.  
___________________________________________________________________________

It had been a few years since Hux left First Order Solutions, found a job as a chemist in pharmacy and spent every waking moment looking for any clue about Kylo.

In this short time, First Order Solutions practically imploded. Phasma had left with him, followed by Mitaka and surprisingly, Thanisson as well. Rumours came out about the projects they were involved in, half of them, even Hux didn’t know about. He had been careful, had washed his hands clean and fought a small war in court. He had won freedom for himself and his colleagues, or relatively, he still had a ban from any kinds of experiments that involved anything smarter than a microorganism, and spend a huge amount of time in social services.

Ironically enough, social services meant helping former test subjects find their way back into society. A program that has sprung into place in order for the many subjects who weren’t on death row to be a person again, and Hux knew Kylo would’ve liked the idea. 

He was leaving his workplace now, earlier than usual, as the sun was still up, but he had to go fulfill today’s hours.

As he crossed the street his gaze rolled over a familiar face and he didn’t think much of it, until his brain caught up with him.  
He stopped, turned and looked at Kylo for the first time since the man had knocked him out with a book a few years ago. 

Kylo waved, a friendly smile on his face, a small blush creeping up his neck and Hux, besides himself, walked towards him.

They stood across each other for a while, just looking.

“You look … good.” Hux tried, feeling awkward. 

Kylo looked embarrassed, grinned to himself. “Thank you, so do you.”

“So, I’m glad you survived. I hope you’re okay?”

“I am, actually. The beginning was tough, I tried to figure out what was real and kept thinking people I talked to would just be part of one of your tests and any minute now someone would wipe me.”

Kylo looked grim, now, and Hux felt that clench in his heart he felt the first time, when he had been way too honest.

“I’m really sorry, Kylo.” he whispered.

“I know. I’d like to give you a chance to make it up to me. What do you say?”

“I’d love to.”, Hux said, fast, airy, as if the chance would be taken away from him any moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, sunflower!


End file.
